Fort Collins, Colorado

This article provides information about local laws that apply to people who host their homes in Fort Collins. It’s your responsibility to verify and comply with any obligations that apply to you as a host. This article can serve as a starting point or place you can come back to if you have questions but it isn’t exhaustive and it doesn’t constitute legal or tax advice. You can check with the City to make sure laws and procedures that apply to your situation are current.

City rules

The information in this article only applies to City of Fort Collins. If you live elsewhere, such as unincorporated Larimer County, contact your local administrator or planning department for more information.

Short-term rental regulations

License types

The regulations allow you to rent your home either partially or in its entirety to guests for stays of 30 days or less with a short-term rental license. Fort Collins defines two types of short-term rental licenses:

Non-primary short-term rental license

Primary short-term rental license

The type of license you need for any given listing depends on how many nights per year that you spend in that residence. You can only get a primary short-term rental license for a listing you personally reside at for 9 months out of the year or more.

Zoning restrictions

Primary short-term rentals are permitted in zones that currently allow all hotels, motels, and bed and breakfast of any size.

Non-primary short-term rentals are permitted in zones that currently allow lodging establishments.

Local contact requirement

Fort Collins requires all short-term rentals to identify and register a local point of contact for guests, neighbors, and city officials. The city has also created a number of other requirements for short-term rentals: including limits on occupancy, off-street parking and posting your license number in your listing description. Please review the city's ordinance on short-term rental licensing regulations and the city’s FAQ on short-term rentals for additional rules and regulations.

Local taxes

Fort Collins imposes a 3% lodging tax on amounts paid by guests for occupancies lasting fewer than thirty consecutive days depending on the location of your property. Lodging Tax must be remitted to the city on a monthly basis. To register with the city to become in order to collect the tax, visit the city’s tax webpage. The state of Colorado also imposes a lodging tax which must also be collected. For more information contact the Colorado Department of Revenue. If you rent on other platforms in addition to Airbnb, you are responsible for collecting and reporting the taxes and fees from any rental arrangement made on those other platforms or through any other means.

Business and housing standards

Fort Collins enforces rules and regulations specifying minimum construction, design, and maintenance standards for buildings, including regulations on habitability, health, and safety. Certain rules and regulations applicable to non-residential and residential uses may be relevant to your listing. Check Chapter 5 of the City Code or contact Planning, Development & Transportation Services directly.

Other rules

Beyond city regulations, there may be other contracts or rules that you need to follow. You can usually find more information about community rules that apply to short-term rentals from your written lease, condo board, co-op, homeowner’s association (HOA), other tenant association guidelines, or landlord.

Our commitment to your community

We’re committed to working with local officials to clarify how local rules impact the short-term rental community. We will continue to advocate for changes that will enable people to rent out their homes.